'Grateful to come full circle': Student now a researcher at the UTM lab he visited as a kid

When Jordan Young was 10, he saw experts from a paleontology lab at the University of Toronto Mississauga discussing a newly discovered dome-headed dinosaur on TV.  

“I remember saying, ‘oh, it must be some species of pachycephalosaur, I bet it's an herbivore,’” Young said. “My mother watched me correcting the news reporter and realized I needed to get in touch with the lab.”

After the segment, Young’s mother – a UTM alum herself – contacted UTM lab technician Diane Scott to share her son's passion for all things paleontology-related and asked if they could meet. Eventually, the mother and son from London, Ont., were invited to visit the lab at UTM.

“When I learned the term paleontologist, I said ‘Yes, this will be my career,’” recalled Young, who traces his love of dinosaurs to a well-illustrated book he read in the third grade. “They said ‘OK then, we want to see you back in the lab when you're older,’ and here I am.”

Young returned to UTM to pursue a double major in paleontology and earth sciences, with a minor in biomedical communications. 

Last year, he began work on a master’s degree in UTM’s paleontology department after earning a scholarship from the School of Graduate Studies that recognizes outstanding academic achievement among Black and Indigenous graduate students.

“I’m grateful to come full circle and do research in the same lab I first visited all those years ago,” said Young, who is already making plans to pursue a PhD. 

As he moves forward in the field of paleontology, Young said he's found himself in a career where there aren't many others who look like him, which makes him feel like a "trailblazer." "Being among the first recognized Black Canadian paleontologists is quite a milestone in modern Canadian history," he said, noting that he's proud to pave a path for other Black Canadians.

With his lab’s guidance, Young recently published his first lead-author paper in Scientific Reports.

The findings provide some of the earliest direct evidence of large land predators actively hunting sizable plant-eating animals, known as diadectes, placing the development significantly earlier than previously documented.

“Ecosystems 280 million years ago were very different from today,” Young said. “Many land environments had few or no herbivores, meaning food chains often started with predators eating other predators instead of eating herbivores.” 

The fossils Young studied revealed multiple bite marks from predators and scavengers, as well as tiny borings made by arthropod larvae after death. This suggests complex terrestrial food webs were already being established tens of millions of years before the first dinosaurs existed, he said.

Young is now writing a second paper, based on his examinations of skeletons from three juvenile diadectes from the Paleozoic era, discovered in Texas.  

“Juvenile specimens are really rare, but they help us fill in the gaps on growth and on how different animals became what they are,” he said.

The publications add to Young’s already impressive resume, which includes being a three-time recipient of the Undergraduate Student Research Award provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The funding helped support his research and expanded his skills in scientific illustrative methodologies, including using 3D software to better understand the form and functions of extinct animals.

“What I enjoy most about paleontology is its narrative imagery,” he said.  “Even for my own papers, the fossils I’ve drawn each represent a piece to the animal’s life history, taking part in a greater story.”

Digital models open up new possibilities in research, Young said, noting the UTM lab has been sending fossil samples off to counterparts in Australia to produce neutron CT scans.

“We can now basically digitally disassemble and prepare, say, a skull encrusted in rock and look at it in 3D, which is quite novel in paleontology, because when the average person thinks of paleo, they only think of going out to the field and digging up rocks,” he said. “But modern technology has really advanced the study.”

And the findings aren’t just interesting history, he noted, they assist today’s zoology conservation efforts. 

“We can better fill in the gaps on how our modern-day animals became what they are,” said Young. “And compare (extinction) events that previously occurred to events we see happening now, so can we change that to preserve our modern-day animals.” 

Young also wants to make sure people learn proper paleo facts, not fiction: he volunteers in public education programs including with the Royal Ontario Museum’s after dark galas and hands-on sessions for families and schools.

“We bring out some fossils and some modern-day animals for the kids to interact with,” he said. “It helps cement their passion for the natural world, just as mine was cemented when I first visited UTM.” 

He’s also always on the lookout for the next generation of paleontologists.

“I had a good discussion with this one kid who was very knowledgeable about both paleo and zoology –  he kind of reminded me of myself,” Young said. “I gave him an invitation to come visit our lab ... So, who knows? In a couple of years, he might be working in our lab.”